Baton Rouge Temperature: 70°
Sunday, September 7, 2008
WBRZ: Tracking Gustav

The Advocate Live Edition

Read today's newspaper on your computer

Louis Miller's July Checklist

  • Work in your garden early in the day to avoid the heat.
  • Continue spraying for insect and disease pests.
  • Water and weed a little each day.
  • Watch the lawn for chinch bugs, brown patch, and fall army worms.
  • Continue to plant for color in the landscape.
  • Harvest the vegetable garden on a regular basis.
  • Groom ferns in beds and pots for best appearance.
  • Irrigate fig trees weekly in order to finish off ripening fruit.
  • Make mid-summer applications of fertilizer to lawn grasses, except centipede.
  • Prepare your landscape for your vacation by reducing irrigation to harden off plants or arrange for your plants to be taken care of while you’re gone.
  • If fleas have been a problem, be sure to spray before leaving your home for any length of time.
    • July Weekly Tips

    Week 1

  • Use bind netting on fruit trees to protect ripening fruit.
  • Watch out for signs of chinch bugs in St. Augustine lawns.
  • Pick up wild mushrooms in the lawn and dispose of them. Don’t bother to spray.

    Week 2

  • Groom damaged or blemished fronds from ferns in pots and beds.
  • Continue to fertilize camellias and azaleas.
  • Inspect azalea foliage for lace bug damage.

    Week 3

  • If you and your pet go on vacation, spray for fleas using a larvacide.
  • Ask about growth regulators for problem insects at the garden center.
  • Treat fire ants as soon as mounds appear without disturbing the ants.

    Week 4

  • Look for fall tomato transplants arriving at garden centers.
  • Check cereals, spices, and flower in the pantry for weevils. Also check dried flower arrangements.
  • Leaf cutter bees will damage rose foliage, but are too important at pollinators to harm.

    Monthly Gardening Tips
    January February March
    April May June
    July August September
    October November December

    • ADVERTISEMENTS


    PROMOTIONS


    WBRZ CHANNEL 2


     
    Envelope icon Have a question, comment, news tip or story idea? Click here to give us some feedback.